University of St. Thomas board member Mr. Patrick J. Moran and the Moran family have donated a sizable collection of Irish primary source materials and historical newspapers to Doherty Library. President Emeritus and History professor Dr. Joseph McFadden lent his expertise in selecting the materials for the donation.

The McFadden-Moran Collection presents a record of Irish politics, history and culture, primarily from the 19th- and early 20th- centuries. The microform collection includes three major sources for the study of Irish history and culture available today. British in Ireland: Dublin Castle Record, Ireland: Politics and Society through the Press, 1760-1922 and the Galway Resource for Anglo-Irish Literature (GRAIL).

The 136-reels of microfilm in the British in Ireland: Dublin Castle Records set reproduce the original files collected by British administrators in Dublin Castle between 1881 and 1921. During these years, the British in Ireland faced increasing Irish nationalism, the rise of anti-government organizations, the "Land Wars," and the struggle over Home Rule. The set includes Royal Irish Constabulary records and police reports, judicial proceedings, and even surveillance information on more than 400 Sinn Fien and Republican suspects pursued between 1889 and 1921.

Local and nationalist Irish newspapers are reproduced in Ireland: Politics and Society through the Press, 1760-1922. The McFadden-Moran Collection holdings include 19th century runs of the Irishman (Dublin), United Ireland, the Limerick Reporter and Tipperary Vindicator, Galway Vindicator, and the Clare Journal and Ennis Advertiser.

The Galway Resource for Anglo-Irish Literature (GRAIL), developed by the University College Galway and the National Library of Ireland, reproduces over 500 works by 80 Anglo-Irish 19th century writers. The collection is a treasure of 19th century popular fiction, drama, poetry, and even folksongs. Read"Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland" written by Thomas Crofton Croker in 1825-28, for example. Or Irish poet Thomas Moore's "Letter to the Roman Catholics of Dublin" (1810 ) along with his later book "Travels of an Irish Gentleman in Search of a Religion: With Notes and Illustrations" (1833).

The McFadden-Moran Collection is located in the Silent Reading Room at Doherty Library. Printing is available and free of charge.

Center for Irish Studies
The William J. Flynn Center for Irish Studies at the University of St. Thomas in Houston is the only Irish Studies academic program in the Southwest. The Center serves as a focal point for the study and appreciation of Irish and Northern Irish history, literature, politics, law, language, music, art, drama, culture and society.